Patent Application
20080213003
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a particle supply apparatus that supplies particles such as toner to a supply destination; an electrophotographic imaging apparatus such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine; and a method of transporting a particle accommodating unit that is detachably installed to the particle supply apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technology related to a particle supply apparatus such as a toner bank or a toner replenishing apparatus used for accommodating large amounts of toner in an imaging apparatus such as a copier or a printer are disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3534159 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-24622, for example.
In Japanese Patent No. 3534159, a particle supply apparatus (toner bank) that can accommodate plural toner container bottles is disclosed. Specifically, according to this disclosure, a stopper of one of the plural toner containers is removed so that toner contained therein may be supplied to a hopper of the toner bank. The toner within the hopper of the toner bank is conveyed to a developing apparatus corresponding to a toner supply destination by gas flow transferring means. Then, when the opened toner container becomes empty, another toner container is opened and toner is supplied from this other toner container to the toner bank.
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-24622, a particle supply apparatus (toner replenishing apparatus) that includes a hopper (toner hopper) having a larger capacity than a toner container is disclosed. Specifically, according to this disclosure, toner from plural toner containers is accommodated within a toner hopper having a large capacity. The hopper has a stirring member that stirs the toner accommodated therein. The toner within the hopper is discharged from the lower side of the hopper and is conveyed toward a developing apparatus corresponding to the toner supply destination by fluid transporting means.
Also, Japanese Patent No. 3549051 discloses a particle supply apparatus (replenishing apparatus) for replenishing toner (particles) in a toner container (particle container). Specifically, according to this disclosure, air is supplied to the replenishing apparatus in order to increase the internal pressure of the apparatus so that toner accommodated within the replenishing apparatus may be discharged from a particle emission tube and supplied to a toner container corresponding to a toner supply destination.
The particle supply apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3534159 accommodates plural toner containers in order to increase its toner accommodating capacity. However, when all the toner contained in the plural toner containers are used up, plural replacement toner containers have to be reinstalled into the apparatus which may be quite burdensome. In this respect, although toner accommodating capacity may be increased in the particle supply apparatus, operations required after all the toner is used up may be rather inefficient according to this technique.
The particle supply apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-24622 increases the toner accommodating capacity by increasing the capacity of the hopper. However, according to this technique, the toner accommodated in the hopper is mechanically stirred by a stirring member in order to prevent cross-linking of the toner, and as a result, mechanical stress may occur in the toner. When mechanical stress occurs in the toner, additives mixed to the toner may emerge onto the toner surface and/or be separated from the toner so that the toner may be degraded to cause image quality degradation. Further, since the particle supply apparatus of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-24622 discharges toner from the lower side of the hopper, the toner scattering amount from the particle supply apparatus may be increased when the seal around the toner discharge outlet is degraded, for example.
The particle supply apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3549051 actively applies pressure to an accommodating portion that accommodates toner in order to enable discharge of the toner. Accordingly, the accommodating portion has to have adequate mechanical durability for withstanding the pressure applied thereto. In this respect, although the particle supply apparatus according to this technique may be used as a fabricating apparatus that replenishes toner to a toner container, it may not be suitable for use as a particle supply apparatus of an imaging apparatus that supplies toner to a developing apparatus.
Also, it is noted that in the case of using the technique of actively applying pressure to the toner accommodating portion to discharge the toner from the accommodating portion, the discharge amount of toner may vary significantly depending on the amount of toner remaining in the accommodating portion, and it may be difficult to perform fine adjustment of the toner discharge amount. Thus, although the particle supply apparatus of Japanese Patent No. 3549051 may be used as a fabricating apparatus that replenishes toner to a toner container, it may not be suitable for use as a particle supply apparatus of an imaging apparatus that supplies toner to a developing apparatus.
It is noted that the problems described above are not merely problems encountered by a particle supply apparatus used in an imaging apparatus. That is, the problems are common to all types of particle supply apparatuses that demands fine adjustment of the particle supply amount without damaging the particles.
Also, for such particle supply apparatuses, a technique is in demand for efficiently and accurately supplying particles accommodated in a particle accommodating unit to a supply destination and efficiently performing toner replenishing operations (exchange operations) for the particle accommodating unit. Further, a technique is in demand for preventing blocking of the particles accommodated within the particle accommodating unit at operation start time after the particle accommodating unit is transported.
According to certain aspects of the present invention, techniques implemented in a particle supply apparatus, an imaging apparatus, and a particle accommodating unit transporting method are provided for increasing particle accommodating capacity without damaging the particles or requiring burdensome replacement procedures, enabling fine adjustment of the particle supply amount, conveying particles to a particle supply destination in an efficient and accurate manner without causing particle scattering, and preventing blocking of the particles accommodated within a particle accommodating unit at operations start time after the particle accommodating unit is transported.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a particle supply apparatus is provided that supplies particles to a supply destination, the apparatus including:
a particle supply apparatus main frame;
a particle accommodating unit that accommodates the particles;
a gas spouting unit that is arranged at a bottom portion of the particle accommodating unit and is configured to spout gas toward the particles; and
a conveying mechanism that applies suction to the particles accommodated in the particle accommodating unit and conveys the particles toward the supply destination;
wherein the particle accommodating unit is installed in the particle supply apparatus main frame and is arranged to rest on a face at the bottom portion side during operation, and the particle accommodating unit is detached from the particle supply apparatus main frame and is arranged to rest on a face other than the face at the bottom portion side during transportation.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the particle accommodating unit includes a gas accommodating pouch arranged at the resting face of the particle accommodating unit during transportation, and the gas accommodating pouch is configured to be reduced in volume by evacuating gas contained in the particle accommodating unit during operation.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, an imaging apparatus is provided that includes a particle supply apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method of transporting a particle accommodating unit that is detachably arranged at a particle supply apparatus for supplying particles to a supply destination which particle accommodating unit is configured to accommodate the particles and has a gas spouting unit arranged at a bottom portion for spouting gas towards the particles, the method involving:
arranging the particle accommodating unit to be detached from the particle supply apparatus, and arranging the particle accommodating unit to rest on a face other than a face at the bottom portion side of the particle accommodating unit upon transporting the particle accommodating unit.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that in these drawings, illustrated elements that have identical or corresponding features are represented by identical reference numerals and overlapping descriptions may be omitted or simplified.
In the following, a first embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to
First, the overall configuration and operations of an imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment are described with reference to
In
The particle supply apparatus 20 is arranged at the bottom side of a wing 2a of a paper feed tray that is placed on top of the paper feed bank 2.
In
The imaging apparatus main frame 1 also includes a toner hopper (toner receiving unit) 9 as a supply destination for the toner being supplied from the particle supply apparatus 20, a toner conveying channel 11 for conveying the toner within the toner hopper 9 to a toner replenishing unit 5a of the developing unit 5, and toner containers (toner bottles) 19 as a secondary particle accommodating unit that supplies toner to the toner hopper 9 in addition to the particle supply apparatus 20.
Further, the imaging apparatus main frame 1 includes a supply channel (recycling channel) 75 as a recycling route for conveying the untransferred toner collected by the cleaning unit 8 to the toner hopper 9. In certain embodiments, the supply channel 75 may use a conveyor screw or a pump such as a diaphragm air pump, for example.
In the following, normal imaging operations of the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment are described with reference to
First, a document is conveyed by a conveying roller of a document conveying unit from a document table to pass a document read unit. At this point, the document read unit optically reads image information of the passing document.
Then, the optical image information read by the document read unit is converted into an electrical signal to be transmitted to the exposure unit 16. In turn, the exposure unit 16 irradiates exposure light such as laser on the photoconductor drum 4 based on the electrical signal of the image information.
The photoconductor drum 4 rotates in the clockwise direction in
Then, the surface of the photoconductor drum 4 having the latent image formed thereon reaches a position opposing the developing unit 5 at which position the latent image on the photoconductor drum 4 is developed into a toner image by the developing unit 5.
In the developing unit 5, toner supplied from the toner replenishing unit 5a is mixed with a carrier by a paddle roller, for example. Then, the frictionally charged toner and the carrier are supplied to the surface of a developing roller opposing the photoconductor drum 4.
It is noted that toner in the developing unit 5 may be replenished by the toner replenishing unit 5a as is necessary in accordance with the consumption of toner within the developing unit 5. The consumption of toner within the developing unit 5 may be detected by a photo sensor arranged opposite the photoconductor 4 or a magnetic permeability sensor arranged within the developing unit 5, for example. The toner in the toner replenishing unit 5a may be replenished by supplying toner from the toner hopper 9 via the toner conveying channel 11 that uses a toner conveying coil or a particle pump, for example. The toner in the toner hopper 9 may be replenished by supplying toner from the particle supply apparatus 20 arranged outside the imaging apparatus main frame 1 using conveying mechanism 37, 40, 22, and 41.
According to the present embodiment, plural replaceable toner containers 19 are arranged at the toner hopper 9 so that toner may be supplied to the toner hopper 9 from the toner containers 19 as well as the particle supply apparatus 20. For example, the toner containers 19 may be used to supply toner to the toner hopper 9 when replacement operations for replacing a particle accommodating unit 31 of the particle supply unit 20 are being performed. In this way, downtime of the imaging apparatus may be avoided.
Also, according to the present embodiment, the toner containers 19 are bottle-shaped containers having spiral projecting portions formed at their inner surfaces. Thus, by rotating the toner container 19, toner within the toner container 19 may be discharged from the opening of the toner container 19 to be supplied to the toner hopper 9.
Then, the surface of the photoconductor drum 4 having the toner image developed by the developing unit 5 reaches a position opposing the transfer unit 6 at which position the transfer unit 6 transfers the toner image formed on the photoconductor drum 4 onto a recording medium such as paper. In this case, a small amount of untransferred toner remains on the surface of the photoconductor drum 4.
Then, the surface of the photoconductor drum 4 having the untransferred toner remaining thereon reaches a position opposing the cleaning unit 8 at which position the untransferred toner is removed by a cleaning blade of the cleaning unit 8 that comes into contact with the surface of the photoconductor drum 4 so that the remaining toner may be collected by the cleaning unit 8. The toner collected by the cleaning unit 8 is conveyed to the toner hopper 9 via the supply channel 75 as recycled toner and is supplied to the developing unit 5 (toner replenishing unit 5a) along with fresh toner supplied from the particle supply unit 20 and/or the toner containers 19. In this way, efficient recycle of toner may be realized in the imaging apparatus.
Then, the surface of the photoconductor drum 4 that has passed the cleaning unit 8 reaches a charge removal position (not shown) where the electric potential on the surface of the photoconductor drum 4 is removed so that the imaging operations may be ended.
In the following, operations for handling the recording medium conveyed to the transfer unit 6 are described.
First, one paper feed unit (e.g. paper feed unit 18) is manually or automatically selected from plural paper feed units.
Then, one piece of the recording medium (e.g. paper) accommodated in the selected paper feed unit 18 is moved in the direction of the dot-dashed line shown in
Then, the recording medium fed from the paper feed unit 18 is conveyed to the position where a resist roller is arranged. The recording medium reaching the position of the resist roller is synchronized with the photoconductor drum 4 to adjust the positioning of the toner image and is conveyed to the transfer unit 6.
After transfer of the toner image onto the recording medium is completed, the recording medium moves past the transfer unit 6 to reach the position of the fixing unit 7. At this position, the toner image transferred onto the recording medium is fixed by the fixing unit 7 using heat and pressure. Then, after undergoing the fixing process, the recording medium is discharged from the imaging apparatus main frame 1 as an output image and delivered to the post process unit 3 that performs post processes on the discharged recording medium.
In the following, the configuration and operations of the particle supply apparatus 20 are described.
As is shown in
As is shown in
Further, in the present embodiment, the particle accommodating unit 31 has a first gripper 56 arranged at its bottom side as is described in detail below with reference to
The particle supply apparatus main frame 21 includes a door 21b having a handle 21a (see
According to the present embodiment, the casters 31a and 31b are arranged close to the uppermost edge portions of a V-shaped sloping bottom surface of the particle accommodating unit 31 so that the height of the particle accommodating unit 31 including the casters 31a and 31b may be relatively low. Also, as is described in detail below with reference to
It is noted that the number of casters and their positions are not limited to the above-illustrated embodiment, and any number of casters may be attached to the particle accommodating unit 31 at suitable positions for enabling the particle accommodating unit 31 to move with respect to the ground surface without toppling over, for example. Also, the shape and position of the second gripper 55 is not limited to the above-illustrated embodiment, and the second gripper 55 may be arranged into other suitable shapes and at other suitable positions for enabling the particle accommodating unit 31 to be easily moved with respect to the ground surface.
In the particle supply apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment, the particle accommodating unit 31 may be moved and detached from the particle supply apparatus main frame 21 so that when the particle accommodating unit 31 becomes nearly empty, it may be replaced by another particle accommodating unit 31 that has ample toner accommodated therein. In this way, toner may be continually supplied to the imaging apparatus main frame 1. Also, it is noted that the particle supply apparatus 20 has a separate power supply unit 60 that is different from the power supply unit for the imaging apparatus main frame 1 so that operations for replacing the particle accommodating unit 31 may be performed without having to turn off the power of the imaging apparatus main frame 1. In other words, the replacement operations may be performed without causing downtime of the imaging apparatus main frame 21.
As is shown in
It is noted that in the present embodiment, the toner hopper 9 of the imaging apparatus main frame 1 corresponds to the supply destination for the toner supplied from the particle supply apparatus 20; however, in an alternative embodiment, the toner replenishing unit 5a of the developing unit 5 may be the supply destination for the toner supplied from the particle supply apparatus 20, for example.
As is shown in
The bottom surface of the particle accommodating unit 31 is arranged into a sloped surface with a center portion arranged at a lowermost position. In other words, the bottom surface of the particle accommodating unit 31 is arranged into a V-shaped sloping surface. The gas spouting unit (fluidized bed) 33 is arranged along the sloping bottom surface of the particle accommodating unit 31.
It is noted that the sloping angle of the sloping bottom surface of the particle accommodating unit 31 is arranged to be smaller than the angle of repose for the toner T accommodated within the particle accommodating unit 31. Specifically, for example, while the angle of repose for the toner T may be approximately 40 degrees, the sloping angle of the sloping surface may be approximately 20 degrees. By arranging the sloping angle of the sloping surface to be relatively small, a dead space created as a result of sloping may be reduced and the toner may be prevented from piling up at a lowermost region (region around the lowermost position) of the sloping surface to excessively increase the bulk density at this region.
The gas spouting unit 33 includes an intermediate unit 33A, a porous member 33B, and four chambers 33C1-33C4, for example, and is configured to spout air (gas) into the particle accommodating unit 31. The lateral cross section (i.e., cross section orthogonal to the air spouting direction) of the gas spouting unit 33 is arranged into a substantially rectangular shape.
The porous member 33B of the gas spouting unit 33 has holes with diameters that are arranged to be smaller than the particle size (diameter) of toner T, and is arranged at a side that comes into direct contact with the toner T accommodated within the particle accommodating unit 31. Air discharged from the air pump 24 of the particle supply apparatus main frame 21 is supplied to the porous member 33B via the tubes 44a, 44b, and the chambers 33C1-33C4, and the porous member 33B acts as the air spouting outlet for spouting air into the particle accommodating unit 31.
It is noted that the porous member 33B is made of a porous material having fine holes for passing air. The porous member 33B is configured to have an aperture ratio of 5-40% (preferably within 10-20%) and an average aperture diameter of 0.3-20 μm (preferably within 5-15 μm), and the average hole diameter of its holes is arranged to be 0.1-5 times (preferably 0.5-3 times) the volume average particle diameter of the toner T.
The porous member 33B may be made of glass, sintered resin particles, photo-etched resin, thermally perforated resin or some other type of porous resin material, sintered metal, a perforated metal plate material, a mesh laminate, or a metal material having selectively fused holes that may be obtained by causing precipitation of metal copper around fusible metal threads through electrochemical processing to fabricate a copper plate with the fusible metal threads implanted therein and selectively removing the fusible metal threads implanted into the copper plate, for example.
By spouting air toward the toner T accommodated in the particle accommodating unit 31 via the porous member 33B as is described above, the bulk density of the toner may be reduced, the toner T may be fluidized, and cross-linking of the toner T may be prevented, for example. It is noted that since each toner particle weighs relatively little and a relatively strong air pressure is applied to the porous member 33B, it is unlikely for a toner particle to penetrate the chambers 33C1-33C4 or clog up the porous member 33B even when the toner particle enters a hole of the porous member 33B.
As is shown in
Specifically, the first chamber 33C1 and the second chamber 33C2 are adjacent to the intermediate unit 33A that is arranged at the lowermost region of the sloping bottom surface. The first chamber 33C1 receives air from the air pump 24 that is conveyed through the connection members 53b, 54b, and the tube (second tube) 44b and diverged by the intermediate unit 33A via a discharge outlet 44b1. The second chamber 33C2 receives air from the air pump 24 that is conveyed through the connection members 53b, 54b and the second tube 44b and diverged by the intermediate unit 33A via a discharge outlet 44b2. The air supplied to the first chamber 33C1 and the second chamber 33C2 is spouted at the lowermost region of the sloping surface of the particle accommodating unit 31 via the porous member 33B.
The third chamber 33C3 and the fourth chamber 33C4 are adjacent to the first chamber 33C1 and the second chamber 33C2, respectively. The third chamber 33C3 receives air from the air pump 24 that is conveyed via the connection members 53a, 54a, and the tube (first tube) 44a and diverged by the intermediate unit 33A via a discharge outlet 44a1. The fourth chamber 33C4 receives air from the air pump 24 that is conveyed via the connection members 53a, 54a, and the first tube 44a and diverged by the intermediate unit 33A via a discharge outlet 44a2. The air supplied to the third chamber 33C3 and the fourth chamber 33C4 is spouted at regions of the sloping bottom surface other than the lowermost region via the porous member 33B.
As is described above, the connection members 53a and 53b are arranged at the particle accommodating unit 31, and the connection members 54a and 54b are arranged at the particle supply apparatus main frame 21. When the particle accommodating unit 31 is installed in the particle supply apparatus main frame 21, the connection members 53a, 53b, 54a, and 54b are interconnected to act as intermediate connectors of a gas conveying path extending from the air pump 24 to the gas spouting unit 33. When the particle accommodating unit 31 is detached from the particle supply apparatus main frame 21, the connection members 53a, 53b, 54a, and 54b are detached to disconnect the gas conveying path. In this way, the particle accommodating unit 31 may be easily attached to and detached from the particle supply apparatus main frame 21.
It is noted that the area (i.e. area of contact surface that is in contact with the porous member 33B) or the volume of the first chamber 33C1 and the second chamber 33C2 is arranged to be smaller than the area or volume of the third chamber 33C3 and the fourth chamber 33C4.
By arranging the gas spouting unit 33 to have the above-described configuration, the gas spouting amount per unit area per unit time at the lowermost region of the sloping surface (where the first chamber 33C1 and the second chamber 33C2 are arranged) may be greater than the gas spouting amount per unit area per unit time at other regions of the sloping surface (where the third chamber 33C3 and the fourth chamber 33C4 are arranged). It is noted that the toner at the lowermost region of the sloping surface tends to have a higher bulk density compared to the rest of the regions of the sloping surface. Thus, by varying the gas spouting amount of the gas spouting unit 33 for the different positions on the sloping surface, uniform fluidity of the toner may be achieved throughout the sloping surface in an efficient manner, for example.
As can be appreciated from the above descriptions, according to the present embodiment, plural chambers (e.g., first through fourth chambers 33C1-33C4) are provided at the gas spouting unit 33, and air from the air pump 24 is individually supplied to the different chambers so that the gas spouting amount may be varied for the different positions on the sloping surface. In the present embodiment, the difference in the gas spouting amount is created by varying the size of the chambers (area or volume of the chambers 33C1-33C4) from which air is spouted.
However, it is noted that measures for varying the gas spouting amount is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and other measures may be implemented such as arranging different porous members (e.g., having different hole diameters and/or hole densities) at different positions of the sloping surface, or varying the air pressure of air discharged from the air pump 24.
In a preferred embodiment, the gas spouting amount per unit area per unit time at the lowermost region of the sloping surface (where the first chamber 33C1 and the second chamber 33C2 are arranged) is adjusted to be 1.1-2 times greater than the spouting amount per unit area per unit time at the other regions of the sloping surface (where the third chamber 33C3 and the fourth chamber 33C4 are arranged) in order to achieve advantageous effects as described above such as reduced toner bulk density and uniform toner fluidity, for example.
It is noted that the suction pipe 37 is arranged above the intermediate unit 33A (the lowermost position of the sloping surface) so that the toner T may be efficiently introduced into the suction pipe 37 even when the amount of toner T remaining in the particle accommodating unit 31 becomes small. The suction pipe 37 is connected to one end of the pump 22 via the suction tube 40, and the connection members (intermediate pipes) 50 and 51. The other end of the pump 22 is connected to the toner hopper 9 of the imaging apparatus main frame 1 via a discharge tube (conveying mechanism) 41. According to the present embodiment, the suction pipe 37, the suction tube 40, and the connection members 50 and 51 form a particle suction path from the particle accommodating unit 31 to the pump 22, and the discharge tube 41 forms a particle discharge path from the pump 22 to the toner hopper 9. When the pump 22 is activated, the toner T within the particle accommodating unit 31 is introduced into the suction pipe 37 via a suction port 37a and is conveyed to the toner hopper (supply destination) via the pump 22.
As is described above, the connection member 50 is arranged at the particle accommodating unit 31, and the connection member 51 is arranged at the particle supply apparatus main frame 21. When the particle accommodating unit 31 is installed in the particle supply apparatus main frame 21, the connection members 50 and 51 are interconnected to act as intermediate connectors of the particle suction path (i.e., path extending from the suction port 37a to the pump 22). When the particle accommodating unit 31 is detached from the particle supply apparatus main frame 21, the connection members 50 and 51 are detached to disconnect the particle suction path. In this way, the particle accommodating unit 31 may be easily attached to and detached from the particle supply apparatus main frame 21.
In a preferred embodiment, the suction tube 40 and the discharge tube 41 are made of silicon rubber that has low toner affinity so that the toner T may be prevented from bonding with the tube to degrade toner transferability, for example.
In another preferred embodiment, at least a part of the particle suction path and the particle discharge path is made of a flexible tube (e.g. tubes 40 and 41) in order to allow flexibility in the layout of the particle accommodating unit 31, the pump 22, and the toner hopper 9.
As is shown in
In a preferred embodiment, the slope angle θ of the particle discharge path formed by the discharge tube 41 may be within 20-90 degrees (more preferably within 25-45 degrees). In this way, toner may be efficiently conveyed through the particle discharge path by the discharge force of the pump 22 as well as the gravitational falling force created by the slope angle.
Also, according to the present embodiment, the suction port 37a (suction pipe 37) of the particle suction path is positioned lower than the pump 22. Specifically, the toner T within the particle accommodating unit 31 is introduced into the suction pipe 37 (e.g., having an internal diameter of approximately 6-8 mm) positioned at the lowermost region of the particle accommodating unit 31 and conveyed upward by suction force. In a preferred embodiment, the distance between the pump 22 and the suction pipe 37 is arranged to be shorter than the distance between the pump 22 and the toner hopper 9 in order to reduce the suction force of the pump 22 required for conveying the toner T upward against the gravitational force so that the toner T within the particle accommodating unit 31 may be efficiently conveyed by suction force. Also, since the toner T is directed upward in the particle suction path, the toner T may be prevented from scattering in large amounts when the suction tube 40 is damaged or detached; that is, the scattered toner may be limited to that flowing within the suction tube 40, for example.
According to the present embodiment, the vertical distance H1 between the suction port 37a of the suction pipe 37 and the pump 22 is arranged to be 1.5-2 times the vertical distance H2 between the toner hopper 9 and the pump 22 (see
Also, according to the present embodiment, the pump 22 (particle supply apparatus main frame 21) and the particle accommodating unit 31 are arranged outside the imaging apparatus main frame 1 so that the configuration of the particle supply apparatus 20 may not be restricted by the configuration of the imaging apparatus main frame 1. For example, the pump 22 may be arranged at a desired position regardless of the height of the imaging apparatus main frame 1. In another example, the imaging apparatus main frame 1 may be stationed within an office space whereas the particle supply apparatus 20, which is prone to cause tainting by toner, may be stationed outside the office space.
The second gas spouting unit 62 spouts air from the air pump 24 that is conveyed via the connection members 53c, 54c, and the tube (third tube) 44c directly toward the suction port 37a of the suction pipe 37 (and the remaining toner sensor 38 shown in
It is noted that in the present embodiment, the second gas spouting unit 62 is used to spout air toward the suction port 37a of the suction pipe 37 and the remaining toner sensor 38; however, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment and for example, a gas spouting unit for spouting air toward the region close to the suction port 37a of the suction pipe 37 and a gas spouting unit for spouting air toward the region close to the remaining toner sensor 38 may be separately provided. In another alternative embodiment, the second gas spouting unit 62 and the gas spouting unit 33 arranged at the bottom of the particle accommodating unit 31 may be combined to form one gas spouting unit, for example.
Also, as is shown in
Also, the operations of the second gas spouting unit 62 for spouting air toward the suction port 37a are ended before the suction operations by the pump 22 (fluid suction via the suction pipe 37) are ended. Specifically, once the fluidity of toner is induced by the second gas spouting unit 62 right before toner suction operations via the suction pipe 37 are started, the toner transfer operations may be smoothly performed by the conveying mechanism 22, 37, 40, and 41 without continuing the operations of the second gas spouting unit 62. Accordingly, in the present embodiment, the operations of the second gas spouting unit 62 are terminated after a predetermined time elapses from the time operations of the pump 22 are started in order to reduce the duty time of the second gas spouting unit 62.
It is noted that in the present embodiment, the operations of the gas spouting unit 33 (33A, 33B, 33C1-33C4) are performed independent of the operations of the second gas spouting unit 62. The operations of the gas spouting unit 33 may be continually performed, intermittently performed, or performed according to the decrease in fluidity of the toner within the particle accommodating unit 31 (e.g., at predetermined time intervals), for example. In one embodiment, the timing for supplying air to the first chamber 33C1 and the second chamber 33C2 and the timing for supplying air to the third chamber 33C3 and the fourth chamber 33C4 may be varied in order to obtain uniform fluidity of the toner within the particle accommodating unit 31 in an efficient manner, for example.
In another embodiment, operations of the second gas spouting unit 62 may be intermittently performed while the pump 22 is in operation so that toner transferability may be improved when the pump 22 is continually operated for a long period of time, for example.
In another embodiment, operations of the second gas spouting unit 62 may be intermittently performed in a case where the pump 22 is not operated (abandoned) for a long period of time so that toner transfer operations may be smoothly performed in response to activation of the pump 22 even after the pump has been abandoned for a long period of time, for example.
In another embodiment, the second gas spouting unit 62 may be forcefully operated for a predetermined period of time when the main switch of the imaging apparatus main frame 1 is turned on. In this way, warm up operations may be performed in the particle supply apparatus 20 when warm up operations are performed in the imaging apparatus main frame 1 and smooth toner transfer operations may be immediately performed in response to activation of the second gas spouting unit 62, for example.
It is noted that in the present embodiment, three tubes 44a-44c are used to separately supply air to the third chamber 33C3 and fourth chamber 33C4, the first chamber 33C1 and second chamber 33C2, and the second gas spouting unit 62, respectively. In this way, air flow and air pressure may be easily adjusted according to the characteristics of the different air supply destinations, for example.
Referring to
As is described above, the connection member 57 is arranged at the particle accommodating unit 31, and the connection member 58 is arranged at the particle supply apparatus main frame 21. When the particle accommodating unit 31 is attached to the particle supply apparatus main frame 21, the connection members 57 and 58 act as intermediate connectors connecting the cable 47 extending from the remaining toner sensor 38 to the particle supply apparatus main frame 21. When the particle accommodating unit 31 is detached from the particle supply apparatus main frame 21, the connection members 57 and 58 are detached to disconnect the cable 47. In this way, the particle supply apparatus main frame 21 may be easily attached to and detached from the particle accommodating unit 31.
In the present embodiment, the remaining toner sensor 38 is configured to inform a user of the remaining amount of toner within the particle accommodating unit 31 by measuring the remaining amount of toner on a scale of three different levels.
Specifically, when the uppermost piezoelectric sensor 71 of the remaining toner sensor 38 detects that there is no toner at its corresponding position (height), a message indicating that the remaining amount of toner within the particle accommodating unit 31 is decreasing may be displayed at a display unit of the imaging apparatus main frame 1 (“PRE NEAR END” display). Then, when the middle piezoelectric sensor 72 of the remaining toner sensor 38 detects that there is no toner at its corresponding position (height), a message indicating that the toner within the particle accommodating unit 31 is almost gone may be displayed at the display unit of the imaging apparatus main frame 1 (“NEAR END” display). Then, when the lowermost piezoelectric sensor 73 of the remaining toner sensor 38 detects that there is no toner at its corresponding position (height), a message indicating that there is not toner remaining in the particle accommodating unit 31 may be displayed at the display unit of the imaging apparatus main frame 1 (“TONER END” display) and suction operations of the pump 22 may be stopped until replacement operations for replacing the particle accommodating unit 31 are completed, for example.
It is noted that the remaining toner sensor 38 is provided outside the suction pipe 37 in the present embodiment so that toner clumps may be prevented from being generated within the suction pipe 37.
Also, the remaining toner sensor 38 is positioned above the suction port 37a of the suction pipe 37 in the present embodiment so that cases in which only air is introduced into the suction pipe 37 may be prevented. Specifically, the remaining toner sensor 38 may be used to send a signal to stop toner suction operations by the pump 22 while the toner is still at a position (level) above the suction port 37a. In this way, the suction pipe 37 may be prevented from merely introducing air by suction when the toner is already gone (or when the mixing rate of toner with respect to air is low).
Also, the remaining toner sensor 38 is positioned above the gas spouting unit 33 in the present embodiment so that the remaining toner detection accuracy of the remaining toner sensor 38 may be improved, for example. Specifically, by arranging the gas spouting unit 33 to fluidize the toner, the toner remaining amount may be stably and accurately detected, for example.
Also, the remaining toner sensor 38 is positioned above the lowermost position of the sloping surface of the gas spouting unit 33 in the present embodiment so that the remaining toner sensor may accurately detect the remaining amount of toner within the particle accommodating unit 31 being introduced into the suction tube 37 that is also positioned above the lowermost position to enable efficient and economical transfer of the toner.
Also, the remaining toner sensor 38 may be accurately positioned within the particle accommodating unit 31 by the support 61 and the case 70 in the present embodiment.
Also, the second gas spouting unit 62 is arranged at the lower side of the remaining toner sensor 38 in the present embodiment so that toner may be fluidized in the vicinity of the remaining toner sensor 38 and detection accuracy of the remaining toner sensor 38 may be stabilized.
In the following, the configuration and transportation method of the particle accommodating unit 31 used in the present embodiment are described.
As is described above, the particle accommodating unit 31 is arranged to be detachable with respect to the particle supply apparatus main frame 21. When the particle accommodating unit 31 installed in the particle supply apparatus main frame 21 reaches a toner end status, this particle accommodating unit 31 is removed from the particle supply apparatus 21, and another particle accommodating unit 31 accommodating ample toner that is transported from a service station may be installed in the particle supply apparatus main frame 21 as a replacement.
It is noted that the particle accommodating unit 31 may be transported via various transportation means including land transportation using trucks or trains, air transportation, and water transportation, for example.
In the present embodiment, as is shown in
On the other hand, as is shown in
In this way, even when toner blocking occurs within the particle accommodating unit 31 during its transportation, defective toner supply operations may be prevented from occurring in the particle supply apparatus according to the present embodiment.
It is noted that the inventor of the present invention has discovered through extensive research and investigation that when the particle accommodating unit 31 is disposed in an upright position (in the position shown in
In the case of arranging the particle accommodating unit 31 to rest on its side face (in the position shown in
In the graph shown in
As can be appreciated from
It is noted that the advantageous effects of the present embodiment have also been confirmed by the testing results obtained by a logarithmic sweep oscillation test conforming to JIS Z0232 that has been separately conducted by the inventor of the present invention.
In the following descriptions, it is assumed that the particle accommodating unit 31 has a width of 650 mm, a depth of 240 mm, and a height of 700 mm. It is noted that advantageous effects of the present embodiment may become particularly prominent when the particle accommodating unit 31 is relatively large (i.e., when the toner capacity of the particle accommodating unit 31 is relatively large) as in the present case. That is, in order to achieve the above-described effects of blocked toner breaking and falling towards the bottom portion by gravitational force when the disposition of the particle accommodating unit 31 is changed from the side face resting position (disposition during transportation) to the upright position (disposition during operations), the particle accommodating unit 31 has to be of an adequately size (have adequate toner capacity). Specifically, the particle accommodating unit 31 of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration is preferably arranged to have a width of at least 300 mm and a height of at least 300 mm so that a portion of blocked toner may easily break and fall towards the bottom portion when the disposition of the particle accommodating unit 31 is changed.
Referring to
Also, according to the present embodiment, of the two pairs of casters 31a and 31b for supporting the particle accommodating unit 31 in an upright position and enabling it to move with respect to face 31c upon operations, one pair of casters 31a is arranged close to the region at which the face 31d intersects with the face 31c. In this way, the particle accommodating unit 31 may be easily turned around with respect to one of the pairs of casters 31a as the pivot.
Also, in the present embodiment, the wheel diameter of the pair of casters 31a corresponding to the pivot for rotating the particle accommodating unit 31 is arranged to be greater than the wheel diameter of the other pair of casters 31b. In this way, the particle accommodating unit 31 may be stably turned around the pair of casters 31a corresponding to the pivot.
As is shown in
As is shown in
Also, as is shown in
Also, as is shown in
Also, in one preferred embodiment, a vibration controlling member may be arranged at the side face of the particle accommodating unit 31 (resting face 31b on which the particle accommodating unit 31 rests during its transportation). For example, polyurethane foam may be used as the vibration controlling member. In this way, toner blocking itself that occurs upon transportation of the particle accommodating unit 31 may be reduced.
As can be appreciated from the above descriptions, according to the present embodiment, air is spouted from the bottom of the particle accommodating unit 31 by the gas spouting unit 33 while the toner T within the particle accommodating unit 31 is introduced into the suction pipe 37 to be conveyed to the toner hopper 9 corresponding to the supply destination. In this way, the toner accommodating capacity may be increased without causing damage to the toner T or requiring complicated replacement procedures, fine adjustment of the toner supply amount may be performed, and the toner T may be efficiently and accurately transferred to the toner hopper 9 without causing the toner T to scatter, for example.
It is noted that in the present embodiment, the air pump 24 for supplying air to the gas spouting unit 33 and the second gas spouting unit 62 is positioned above the particle accommodating unit 31 of the particle supply apparatus main frame 21; however, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and the air pump 24 may alternatively be positioned below the sloping surface of the particle accommodating unit 31, for example. In such a case, the length of the air conveying path for conveying air to the gas spouting unit 33 and the second gas spouting unit 62 may be reduced so that a pipe may be used instead of a (flexible) tube for forming the air conveying path, for example.
Also, in the present embodiment, the particle supply apparatus main frame 21 is arranged outside the imaging apparatus main frame 1; however, the particle supply apparatus main frame 21 may alternatively be arranged inside the imaging apparatus main frame 1. For example, the pump 22, the air pump 24, and the power supply unit 60 may be arranged inside the imaging apparatus main frame 1, and the particle accommodating unit 31 may be configured to be detachable with respect to the imaging apparatus main frame 1.
In the following, a second embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to
As is shown in
Also, the particle accommodating unit 31 according to the present embodiment includes an engaging portion 31f and a protruding portion 31g. The particle supply apparatus main frame 21 includes a pivot portion 21f and a guide portion 21g that engage the engaging portion 31f and the protruding portion 31g, respectively.
In the present embodiment, the particle accommodating unit 31 that is standing on its side may be moved toward the particle supply apparatus main frame 21 as is shown in
As can be appreciated from the above descriptions, in the second embodiment, the resting face 31d of the particle accommodating unit 31 during its transportation is arranged be different from the resting face 31c of the particle accommodating unit 31 during operation as in the first embodiment so that defective toner supply operations may be prevented from occurring in the particle supply apparatus according to the present embodiment even when toner blocking occurs within the particle accommodating unit 31 during its transportation.
In the following a third embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to
As is shown in
In this way, when the disposition of the particle accommodating unit 31 is changed from that upon transportation as is shown in
As can be appreciated from the above descriptions, in the third embodiment, the resting face 31d of the particle accommodating unit 31 during its transportation is arranged be different from the resting face 31c of the particle accommodating unit 31 during operation as in the previously-described embodiments so that defective toner supply operations may be prevented from occurring in the particle supply apparatus according to the present embodiment even when toner blocking occurs within the particle accommodating unit 31 during its transportation.
In the following, a fourth embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to
As is shown in
It is noted that in the present embodiment, a predetermined gap is secured between the filter 35 and the cover member 80 so that cases in which the cover member 80 blocks air from being discharged from the filter 35 may be prevented.
As can be appreciated, in the fourth embodiment, the resting face 31d of the particle accommodating unit 31 during its transportation is arranged be different from the resting face 31c of the particle accommodating unit 31 during operations as in the previously-described embodiments so that defective toner supply operations may be prevented from occurring in the particle supply apparatus according to the present embodiment even when toner blocking occurs within the particle accommodating unit 31 during its transportation.
In the following, a fifth embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to
As is shown in
As is shown in
Thus, according to the present embodiment, the seal of the air valve 82 is released as is shown in
Then, as is shown in
As can be appreciated from the above descriptions, in the fifth embodiment, the air bag 81 arranged within the particle accommodating unit 31 may be reduced in volume to cause a portion of blocked toner to break and fall so that defective toner supply operations may be prevented from occurring in the particle supply apparatus according to the present embodiment.
It is noted that in the above-described fifth embodiment, the bottom face of the particle accommodating unit 31 is arranged to be its resting face upon transportation. However, the resting face of the particle accommodating unit 31 upon its transportation may alternatively correspond to its side face as in the previously-described embodiments. In this case, by changing the disposition of the particle accommodating unit 31 to an upright position and reducing the volume of the air bag upon operation of the particle supply apparatus, portions of the particle accommodating unit 31 supporting the blocked toner may be reduced so that the blocked toner may break and fall more easily. In this way, defective toner supply operations may be prevented from occurring in the particle supply apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In the following, a sixth embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to
As is shown in
Then, when the particle accommodating unit 31 that is standing on its side face as is shown in
As can be appreciated from the above descriptions, in the sixth embodiment, the resting face 31d of the particle accommodating unit 31 upon its transportation is arranged to be different from the resting face 31c of the particle accommodating unit 31 upon operations as in the previously-described embodiments so that even when toner blocking occurs within the particle accommodating unit 31 upon its transportation, defective toner supply operations may be prevented from occurring in the particle supply apparatus according to the present embodiment.
It is noted that the above-described preferred embodiments are exemplary applications of the present invention to a particle supply apparatus 20 that supplies toner to a supply destination. However, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and the present invention may equally be applied to a particle supply apparatus that supplies a two-component developer made up of a toner and a carrier to a supply destination, for example. In this case, a magnetic permeability sensor may be used as detection means for detecting the remaining amount of the two-component developer within the particle accommodating unit, for example.
Further, the present invention may be applied to other types of particle supply apparatuses including but not limited to the following:
(1) Particle supply apparatus (replenisher) for replenishing molding material (pellet) to a resin molding machine;
(2) Particle supply apparatus for conveying grain, fertilizer, animal fee, and the like;
(3) Particle supply apparatus used at a manufacturing plant for conveying medicine and other chemicals in powder form, liquid form, or tablet form;
(4) Particle supply apparatus for conveying cement;
(5) Particle supply apparatus for dispersing air into industrial paint to decrease its viscosity and conveying the same; and
(6) Particle supply apparatus for conveying industrial glass beads used as material included in road paint and air beds, for example.
It is noted that in a case where the particle supply apparatus handles hard particles such as a two-component developer or glass beads, the gas spouting unit 33 (fluidized bed) may be prone to wear and damage over time and the pores of the porous member may be clogged when it is made of resin material such as PE or PC. Thus, in this case, the gas spouting unit 33 is preferably made of sintered copper, sintered iron, or a fine metal mesh filter, for example.
Also, it is noted that in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, a diaphragm air pump is used as the pump 22 for attracting toner within the particle accommodating unit 31 using suction force to discharge air towards the toner hopper 9. However, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments and other types of air pumps such as a screw pump (mono pump) may be used to obtain one or more of the above-described advantages of the present invention.
Also, it is noted that in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, the particle supply apparatus 20 is independently provided at that external side of the imaging apparatus 1. However, the particle supply apparatus 20 may also be provided as an integral unit within the imaging apparatus 1.
Further, the present invention is not limited to the above specifically disclosed embodiments, and variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The present application is based on and claims the benefit of the priority date of Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-015208 filed on Jan. 25, 2007, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-015208 | Jan 2007 | JP | national |
